DEPARTMENT: Development Services
DEPARTMENT HEAD: Michael Shannon
COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: 3
SUBJECT:
Plan Amendment Z 2019-11600042
(Associated Zoning Case Z 2019-10700161)
SUMMARY:
Comprehensive Plan Component: Brooks Regional Center Plan
Plan Adoption Date: May 2, 2019
Current Land Use Category: “Urban Low Density Residential”
Proposed Land Use Category: “Medium Density Residential”
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
Planning Commission Hearing Date: August 28, 2019
Case Manager: Michael Pepe, Planner
Property Owner: SRM Capital, LLC
Applicant: Project Permitting of Texas
Representative: Melissa Gonzales
Location: 138 Hermitage Court
Legal Description: Lot 9, Lot 10, Lot 11 and the East 25 Feet of Lot 8, Block 8, NCB 7610
Total Acreage: 0.5624 acres
Notices Mailed
Owners of Property within 200 feet: 39
Registered Neighborhood Associations within 200 feet: Hot Wells Mission Reach Neighborhood Association
Applicable Agencies: World Heritage Office
Transportation
Thoroughfare: Hermitage Court
Existing Character: Local
Proposed Changes: None Known
Thoroughfare: Merrimac Street
Existing Character: Local
Proposed Changes: None Known
Thoroughfare: Lennon Avenue
Existing Character: Local
Proposed Changes: None Known
Public Transit: VIA bus routes are within walking distance of the subject property.
Routes Served: 36, 242, 515
ISSUE:
None.
Comprehensive Plan
Comprehensive Plan Component: Brooks Regional Center Plan
Plan Adoption Date: May 2, 2019
The proposed rezoning appears to conflict with the following goals, principles, and objectives of the Brooks Regional Center Plan:
Plan Goals:
Housing Recommendation #2: “New development and infill projects in neighborhoods should be more incremental, and at a scale that does not conflict sharply with the existing character.”
Land Use - Strategy 3.2 (Regulatory and Policy)
Gradually decrease height and density of new buildings and developments as they transition towards single-family neighborhoods.
Comprehensive Land Use Categories
Land Use Category: “Urban Low Density Residential”
Description of Land Use Category:
Urban Low Density Residential includes a range of housing types including single family attached and detached houses on individual lots, small lot residences, duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes, cottage homes, manufactured homes, low-rise garden- style apartments, and manufactured home parks. This land use category may also accommodate small scale retail and service uses that are intended to support the adjacent residential uses. Other nonresidential uses, including, but not limited to, schools, places of worship, and parks are appropriate within these areas and should be centrally located to provide easy accessibility.
Permitted zoning districts: R-3, R-4, R-5, R-6, RM-5, RM-6, MF-18, MH, MHC, MHP, and NC. Typical densities in this land use category would range from 7 to 18 dwelling units per acre.
Land Use Category: “Medium Density Residential”
Description of Land Use Category:
Medium Density Residential accommodates a range of housing types including single family attached and detached houses on individual lots, manufactured and modular homes, duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes, and low-rise, garden-style apartments with more than four (4) dwelling units per building. Cottage homes and very small lot single-family houses are also appropriate within this land use category. Higher density multi-family uses, where practical, should be located in proximity to transit facilities. Certain nonresidential uses, including, but not limited to, schools, places of worship, and parks are appropriate within these areas and should be centrally located to provide easy accessibility.
Permitted zoning districts: R-3, R-4, RM-4, RM-5, RM-6, MF-18, MF-25, MF-33, MH, MHC, and MHP.
Typical densities in this land use category would range from 13 to 33 dwelling units per acre.
Land Use Overview
Subject Property
Future Land Use Classification:
Urban Low Density Residential
Current Land Use Classification:
Vacant
Direction: North
Future Land Use Classification:
Urban Low Density Residential
Current Land Use Classification:
Single Family Residential
Direction: East
Future Land Use Classification:
Urban Low Density Residential
Current Land Use Classification:
Single Family Residential
Direction: South
Future Land Use Classification:
Urban Low Density Residential
Current Land Use Classification:
Single Family Residential
Direction: West
Future Land Use Classification:
Urban Low Density Residential
Current Land Use Classification:
Multifamily Residential
FISCAL IMPACT:
None.
Proximity to Regional Center/Premium Transit Corridor
The property is located within the Brooks Regional Center. The property is also within the Premium Transit Corridor.
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff Analysis & Recommendation: Staff recommends Denial.
The subject property is located within the SA Tomorrow Brooks Area Regional Center and the SA Corridors Rockport Subdivision and the New Braunfels half-mile buffer. The lot is approximately half an acre and is zoned R-4 with a conditional use for a mobile home park but is currently vacant and has a future land use of Urban Low Density Residential. The applicant has requested MF-33 zoning and a future land use of Medium Density Residential. The neighboring parcels are zoned R-4 with a future land use of Urban Low Density Residential.
The Urban Low Density Residential future land use category supports zoning of up to 18 units per acre. The 16 townhomes proposed for this site would require a plan amendment to change the future land use to Medium Density Residential. The Brooks Area Regional Center Plan would not support a plan amendment based on the following goals and policies recommended in the plan:
• The land use plan designates these areas as either Low Density Residential or Urban Low Density Residential and intends that these areas generally retain their current character in the future, with any added density coming primarily in the form of Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) or “missing middle” housing such as duplexes, triplexes, quadplexes, and bungalow courts as appropriate and as allowed by zoning (page 15).
• Housing Recommendation #1: Support neighborhood stability and a balance of homeownership and rental opportunities (page 42).
• Housing Recommendation #2: Increase the diversity of housing options within the Brooks Area Regional Center in order to support and attract residents at all stages of life and income levels.
• The Brooks Area community welcomes this growth on the south side and the increased shopping, hospitality, and transit amenities it can attract and support. However, area residents have also expressed a desire to respect and maintain the character of traditionally single family, residential-focused neighborhoods. While all neighborhoods will change over time, this evolution can be managed by directing much of the anticipated growth to the Regional Center’s designated focus areas, mixed-use corridors, and VIA transit stations.
• New development and infill projects in neighborhoods should be more incremental, and at a scale that does not conflict sharply with the existing character. Accessory Dwelling Units (see Recommendation #1), duplexes, and triplexes are examples of housing types that can add additional ownership or rental housing supply to neighborhoods at a scale that creates little or no disruption to neighborhood character, parking, or traffic (page 43).
Given the recommendations from the Brooks Area Regional Center Plan, the proposed plan amendment and rezoning do not fit with the vision and goals of the community. While a variety of housing is needed in the Regional Center, the density proposed for this specific site and location do not substantially advance the Plan.
The proposed “Medium Density Residential” would allow for intense, but fragmented development within the interior of a block that would be inconsistent with low density residential character of the neighborhood.
ALTERNATIVES:
1. Recommend Approval of the proposed amendment to the Brooks Regional Center Plan, as presented above.
2. Make an alternate recommendation.
3. Continue to a future date.
ZONING COMMISSION SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION: Z 2019-10700161
Current Zoning: "R-4 CD AHOD" Residential Single-Family Airport Hazard Overlay District with Condition Use for Manufactured Home Park
Proposed Zoning: "MF-33 AHOD" Multi-Family Airport Hazard Overlay District
Zoning Commission Hearing Date: September 3, 2019